So, if you read our last post, you undoubtedly know that we were looking to relocate the collection to an organisation that was going to display it and potentially restore it. We had many, many interested parties reach out to us from museums all over the world to private collectors interested in acquiring the machines. When we set out to rescue the 360’s Chris and I decided that our main goal was their preservation, and everything else was by the wayside. We evaluated each and every opportunity presented to us for a new home for the 360’s, and found an organisation who we considered to be exactly what we’d been looking for.
System Source Museum got in touch with us very shortly after we made the post to register their interest. We had an initial engagement call with them, and were very impressed by their attitude and approach. Ideally Chris & I wanted to maintain ownership of the systems, and System Source were very happy to take them on a long term loan basis. Chris flew over to see them in Maryland and was again extremely impressed with their collection, display, team, and approach to restoration & conservation. We drew up a contract together, signed the various agreements, and two of their team, Ryan Schiff (Vice President) & Ryan Burke (Assistant Museum Director), flew to the UK to package and ship the systems.
Soon enough, a delivery of bespoke sized pallets (made for the sizes of the machines) arrived at Creslow, and a huge delivery of packing material was delivered to my house (filling my lounge!):
The team arrived the next day and we set about planning how to package the machines, spares, consumables etc. safely and securely for their transatlantic voyage. The System Source chaps had procured and had delivered a steel strapping machine and a large amount of strapping which would be used to secure the machines to the pallets. This was coupled with moving blankets, cardboard corners, bubble wrap, packaging tape etc. etc. Soon enough we started loading machines onto the pallets:
When it came to the larger items, these presented a problem. The forklift truck available at Creslow doesn’t fit into the building because of the cage height, and the floor probably wouldn’t support its weight anyway. We therefore had to come up with a different solution. Cue the return of the ramp we built all of those years ago on a street in Nuremberg!
Yes, it still exists, and it had one final use moving IBM’s. It may have cost 150 euros in wood, but we’ve had our moneys worth!
Pretty quickly the 370 was loaded, strapped, and wrapped:
Now, the big question arrived. With a long, custom sized pallet, how do you move it? Two pallet trucks, one at each end, would’ve been possible but would’ve restricted where the machines could be placed. It was then we discovered that you can buy double length, wide fork pallet trucks. Dutifully the next day the System Source team went off to Pallet Truck World (yes, really) to acquire such an item:
This made moving everything about 100 times easier, and we could now shift the pallets around the room with ease.
So, next up was the first 360 CPU. This presented more of a challenge as the cables hanging under the system, which are wired directly into the backplane, meant we couldn’t use the ramp method. After scratching our heads for a few minutes we concocted a solution involving a car jack & a pile of wood:
Now this probably looks really sketchy, and thats because, like everything moving big iron related, it was. First, we jacked up the front of the machine to a height slightly above that of the pallet, and then wedged in some wood on the supporting rail. We then positioned the pallet under the front wheels of the CPU, and smacked out the wood. This enabled us to roll the machine forward onto the pallet as far as the angle of attack would allow, and we then jacked up the back of the machine and rolled it forward on the jack enabling us to locate it fully onto the pallet. This may sound slightly convoluted but it was actually a very quick operation, and by the third machine we were getting quite good at it!
Because the cables are hard wired into the CPU’s, we had to bundle them and cable tie them to the ends of the machines, later wrapping them in a significant amount of bubble wrap and blankets to protect them from crush risk:
We continued loading items throughout the next few days, using the same method each time:
For the exceptionally heavy item, the master tape drive, we decided to reinforce the pallet for extra security. This involved a trip to Wickes to buy some plywood (Wickes is no Bauhaus, trust me), which we then cut and secured to the pallet:
This enabled the loading of the nearly 1 tonne tape drive:
We then boxed and crated up the spares & consumables for easy shipping:
Some of the slightly more bizarre items we had acquired, like spare System 3 parts, were also palletised and used as support structures to ship other items such as loose pannels:
With all of the machines palletised and strapped down, we set about wrapping everything in bubble wrap, moving blankets, and pallet wrap:
We also cut and used pieces of 2×4 to box in the wheels so the machines wouldn’t move at all during transit:
Having started on the 10th of May, and finished packing everything on the 17th, it was time for the trucks. Because of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse at the Port of Baltimore, shipping had become a real challenge. It took the team several days to identify and engage with a shipping provider that could do the end to end move for a reasonable price. Eventually they did, and two trucks arrived to take the machines. I dutifully climbed into the forklift and loaded them one by one onto the trucks. Please don’t judge my forklift driving too harshly, at the time the brakes were… well, the less said the better.
With everything loaded up, the trucks departed and we waved goodbye to the machines as they’re off to their new home.
On October 18th System Source Museum will be holding a special gallery opening for the IBM 360’s, and I’m very happy to say that we’ll be in attendance to see them in their new home. We’re exceptionally pleased that we found somewhere that was not only willing to take the machines on a loan basis, but is going to display them to the public, restore them to working order, and use them as tools to educate future generations. It was a real pleasure working with the team from System Source on the project, and I’d like to extend to them my personal thanks for the highly professional and effective approach they’ve taken to the project.
I’ll write an update when we go to see the machines in their new home, and hopefully we’ll be able to keep updating the blog as they progress with their restoration.
